The 19-6 Avalanche visited Children’s Hospital Colorado on Monday in what captain Gabe Landeskog and others say is one of the best events of the season.

“To me, it’s one of the highlights of the year, a day where you forget about being a pro athlete and the stress of having to perform every day,” Landeskog said. “What I call stress is nothing compared to what these kids and their families are going through.”

Landeskog, 21, and many other young Avs are enjoying the best stretch of their NHL careers. They are grateful and eager to try to brighten a child’s life.

“This time of year is a great time for a lot of us, but for others it can be hard, and you want to brighten anybody’s day, but especially kids who are going through tough times,” said Avs center Matt Duchene, 22. “I feel very blessed to be able to help out.”

Duchene on the mend. Duchene revealed he was ill during last weekend’s back-to-back games with Minnesota, and he thought that might have had something to do with his exclusion from Saturday’s shootout-round victory over the Wild. Coach Patrick Roy used P.A. Parenteau, rookie Nathan MacKinnon and Ryan O’Reilly in the shootout, with O’Reilly scoring the goal that gave the Avs a 3-2 victory and sweep of the two-game set.

Duchene, who leads Colorado with 12 goals and was 5-of-9 in shootouts over the past two seasons, required medical attention after Friday’s 3-1 victory in St. Paul, Minn., but still played Saturday.

Roy said he chose Saturday’s shootout participants based on the results of a breakaway contest in a practice last week.

“I didn’t think twice about it. We won the game,” Duchene said of not being selected. “We have a lot of talent in this room.”

Road to returns. Defenseman Ryan Wilson and winger Alex Tanguay were the only Avs to skate Monday. Wilson and Tanguay, both on injured reserve, skated hard under the guidance of assistant coaches Tim Army and Adam Foote.

Wilson is recovering from a back injury, but he shot the puck so hard he shattered a pane of glass behind a net. Tanguay is coming back from a knee injury.

When both come off IR, the Avs will have to make a roster move. They are carrying 22 available players, with the roster limit at 23.

Footnote. The Avs return to the ice Tuesday and depart for Edmonton on Wednesday to begin a three-game Canadian road trip against the Oilers (Thursday), Calgary Flames (Friday) and Vancouver Canucks (Sunday).

Want a reason why the state of Colorado will be back in the NCAA Tournament in 2020? The Colorado Buffaloes have received 96.1 percent of their scoring, 96.9 percent of their rebounds and 97.3 percent of their assists from players other than seniors this winter. Up at Colorado State, first-year coach Niko Medved got 79.1 percent of his points, 88.8...